United On Fire

Barcelona 0 Manchester United 0

Live blog of the first leg of the Champions League Semi-Final.

Full Time That’s it 0-0.  Job done, I suppose, but it could have been oh so different if Ronaldo hadn’t missed that penalty in the first few minutes.

21:30 I don’t like 0-0 away draws in the Champions League. But I like them better than losing 1-0. So fingers crossed as we go into injury time.

21:27 If there is going to be a last minute own goal by a ginger bloke, it will be Paul Scholes. Or Wes Brown. Van der Sar does a dive for the cameras save from a tame Henry free kick.

21:25 Ryan Giggs comes on for Tevez. The commentator says that it means he has played in all the United semi-finals. Surely Giggs is not old enough to have played in the ‘68 semi finals?

21:22 Henry nearly does something. A fearsome strike that swerves but Van der Sar is equal to.

21:18 Nani plays a great pass to Ronaldo, who puts it back to Park. Park fails to find Tevez. Why is he still on the pitch ?

21:16 Henry has been called into action, for Deco. I’m a bit nervous that he’ll do something, but apparently he has been strictly average this season.

21:15 Nani on for … Rooney ? I’ve not seen Park or Tevez this second half. You know you’ll get good industry from Rooney, why sub him? Save him for the bigger game against Chelsea Saturday ?

21:11 A few years ago I saw a Barcelona v Real Madrid match that had so much skill at such pace and such quality, I thought English teams would never be able to match them. Luckily, that time has past. Barcelona have been strictly average tonight. The trouble is, United haven’t been any good either.

21:07 Not much going on in this game. Fergie has switched and Rooney has just gone up front, I think

21:02 Barcelona freekick from the exact same spot that Bayern Munich scored from in the 99 final. This time it goes over the bar. Messi is off for the on form Bojan

20:55 Just realised Messi is playing. He aint done nothing son, which probably means that he’ll score now.

20:53 Big chance for United. Corner falls to Carrick on the edge of the area. He does brilliantly to beat his man, then sends the ball into the side nettings as well.

20:50 Big chance for Barca. Brown gives the ball away and suddenly it is 2 on 1. Rio covers well and possibly would have given away a penalty but Eto-o stays on his feet but fails to find his colleague with the cross. Big let off. Minutes later Eto’o is in again and hits the side netting.

20:48 Long ranger from Zambrotta but Van der Sar saves easily. Another corner.

20:47 The second half is under way.

Half Time 0-0

20:28 Counter attack and Marquez brings down Ronaldo on the edge of the area. Marquez picks up a booking and misses the 2nd leg. Ronaldo’s freekick is weirdly un-Ronaldo like. At attempted curler that was slow and wide.

20:27 Rio does great against Eto’o and calmly defends a good pass through.

20:24 Not much is actually happening now. It would be better if Barcelona played at more pace allowing United to counter attack. Got to say United are starting to look comfortable again. The ref gives virtually every freekick going which doesn’t help the flow of the game.

20:17 Zambrotta goes down like Tevez put a chainsaw through his neck, but the reality was that there was a slight brush with the arm. Eto’o is starting to have come deep to get the ball. He does get a shot in but Brown blocks and it falls easily for Van Der Sar.

20:15 Great pass from Ronaldo put Rooney into space down the right. He puts the cross in but Park cannot get his header towards goal. Where was Tevez in that attack?

20:13 ooooh, now that should have been a penalty. Mistake by Nesta and Ronaldo was shoved off the ball in the box my Marquez.

20:12 Actually, United have settled into usual defensive away mode, all but Ronaldo behind the ball and Barcelona have passed it around a lot but not done too much with it. Not seen Scholes yet and Tevez hasn’t managed to control it yet.

20:05 Van Der Sar has his first save to make as a long range freekick bounces just in front of him. United are not playing well at all. The formation has me puzzled and I wonder if the Vidic injury has thrown all the plans into chaos. Why Rooney on the right? Surely the obvious option was for Anderson instead of Tevez.

20:00 United need to get a grip on the game. Barcelona are having far too much of the ball and it has lifted the crowd. Utd still seem shocked by the penalty miss.

19:58 Marquez took a freekick right on the edge of the Utd area. Straight at the wall. Why am I having 4-0 1994 flashbacks?

19:57 Huge cock up from Van Der Sar as his miskicked clearance went straight to Barca leaving them 3-2 and a big chance went begging.

19:55 Dangerous pull back from Eto, just went behind two Barca players and found a white shirt. Whistles ensue as United have some possession.

19:53 Three corners in a row for Barcelona. Eventually Ronaldo clears.

19:51 Still coming to grips with the fact we could have been 1-0 up. But that would have been too easy. So far United have broken up each Barcelona attack in midfield until Rooney lost the ball on the right and Evra had to put the cross behind for a corner.

19:48 We would have been gifted a lead as it was a dodgy penalty. A hand ball from a corner. Do we think Ronaldo is not a big game player ?

19:47 Ronaldo misses penalty. Over the bar. 0-0

19:46 PENALTY!!!! Hand ball.

19:45 Game on

19:42 Sky has Rooney on the right and Ronaldo up front with Tevez. Got to be a big gamble playing Deco. I remember Fergie gambling on Van Nistelrooy coming back for a QF against Milan and it failed.

19:40 Team News No Vidic, Hargreaves at RB again, Giggs on the bench and Park gets the nod over Nani. Most interestingly Tevez starts so this is 4-4-2 away in Europe?

Cut and pasted from the Guardian website

Barcelona start with Deco for the first time in two months, a fair old gamble given Messi has played roughly 16 seconds in the last month or so: Valdes, Zambrotta, Marquez, Milito, Abidal, Xavi, Toure Yaya, Deco, Messi, Eto’o, Iniesta.
Subs: Pinto, Gudjohnsen, Henry, Sylvinho, Giovanni, Thuram, Bojan.

No Vidic for Manchester United after he was taken to hospital with a stomach complaint last night: Van der Sar, Hargreaves, Ferdinand, Brown, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes, Park, Rooney, Tevez.
Subs: Kuszczak, Anderson, Giggs, Nani, Pique, O’Shea, Silvestre.

Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)

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Full time at White Hart Lane too which ends incredibly 4-4.   United are three points clear of Arsenal at the top, and five clear of Chelsea.  A good night.  Ronaldo was outstanding in the first half and broke the George Best record of ‘68.  Second half was a let down.  We could have put 5 or 6 past them.

Full-Time 2-0 to United and so so comfortable.

21:51 Spurs equalise again. 4-4!!! Robbie Keane and Chelsea’s defence are all over the place.

21:49 Last minute and Bolton have the ball in the net again, but it is ruled out for a push on O’Shea. Lucky as United are not looking solid at the back.

21:47 Taylor had a great chance in on goal from 2 yards out, but completely misses the ball. Then Polish Guys misses it too but it wanders past the post for a goal kick.

21:46 Another great chance for United. Ronaldo breaks out of defence, puts it forward to Rooney on the left who plays a wonder cross field ball to Tevez. Sadly, he doesn’t control it well and his shot is hurried and well wide. Minutes earlier, Nani took a long range shot when he could have played Rooney in. Nani really is Ronaldo from 3 years ago.

21:42 I don’t see another goal coming at OT (thus trying to tempt fate) but Chelsea are back in front 4-3, Joe Cole again. I’d be worried if my defence conceded 3. As it stands, United will be 3 points clear of both Arsenal and Chelsea.

21:39 Tevez to Rooney to Ronaldo. He crosses and Nani dinks the ball at the corner. Al Habsi, who has had a good game, saves well again. Nani then does fantastically well to nutmeg a defender in the corner, but his cross was too close to the keeper.

21:36 Spurs 3-3 Chelsea. Huddlestone. That sound like a thriller, but I’m getting a little bored here. Bolton just are not good enough to make United play harder.

21:34 United wanted to walk the ball into the net Arsenal style. Nani and Tevez had a battle over the ball whilst the Bolton defenders watched. It ended with Nani stretching for the ball and toe poking it over the bar. Did I say it would end 2-0 at half time ?

21:32 Rooney has woken United up a little and wins a corner. Nani puts it in and Rooney is unmarked 6 yards out but doesn’t connect his header properly. Should have been 3-0.

21:31 One minute into his match and Scholes fouls someone. Saha Injury Update: That ended as expected unfortunately. Saha lasted 70 minutes before picking up what looked like a hamstring injury.

21:30 Steinsson gets a yellow card for a tackle from behind on Tevez. Saha can’t run now, doesn’t look good. Rooney and Scholes on for Anderson and Saha.

21:27 Saha Injury Update: Louis shoots and goes down holding his hamstring!

21:26 Ronaldo wakes the crowd up with a mazey dribble, a step over or four and a power drive from the edge of the area which Al Habsi blocks for a corner. If Bolton get one back it will be a very nervy last 20 minutes.

21:24 Tottenham pull one back via Berbatov to make it 3-2. It is a little quiet at OT.

21:23 Bolton are now on top of the game and United can’t get out of their own half. Trouble for Bolton is that they are having a lot of long range shots that Polish Guy is coping with. Hopefully now Brown is on we can start to take charge again, otherwise we’ll have to freshen up the midfield.

21:19 A poor kick from Polish Guy and Bolton have a shout for a penalty as Tevez is covering for Vidic and does a clumsy tackle on Davies. Bolton have 2-3 chances after this and United can’t stop Vidic’s nose bleeding. Brown comes on for Vidic.

21:17 Chelsea go 3-1 up through Joe Cole. United are still down to 10-men as Vidic is still getting treatment on his nose. Probably a hardware malfunction.

21:15 Ball in the net for Bolton from a fabulous freekick from Diouf. But the ref hadn’t blown his whistle. From the replay, Diouf puts the ball in exactly the same position and the Polish Guy saves it.

21:12 Kuzzksksksk makes a good save from a rare Bolton shot. I agree that he is a good shot stopper, but his judgement is suspect when coming off his line. Vidic shows he isn’t actually a machine by bleeding a little. He doesn’t care, but the ref does. The crowd are singing the new Ronaldo song, interspersed with occasional boos for Diouf and a burst of “Rooney, Rooney, Rooney”

21:08 Saha Injury Update: Shockingly, a Bolton player ends up with a blooded nose after challenging the Frenchman rather than the other way round. Maybe this guy isn’t made of glass after all?

21:06 Saha was nearly through from a long ball but just had to wait for it and the defenders got back. Then they sloppily lose it to Tevez before going in studs up on the Argentinian and giving away a freekick on the edge of the box. This time Nani takes it and it is well saved.

Second Half Bolton replace Meite with Nicky Hunt. No changes for United.

Watching the replay of Ronaldo’s first goal just shows how good he is. From the corner, Ronaldo heads the ball but it hits the defender. At this point, Ronaldo has no idea where the ball has gone. In fact, he spins and turns 360 degrees, yet is still able to get to the ball a second later to slam it home. The shot actually hits the ground before heading upwards. Whilst this takes some of the pace of the ball, this is what helps it beat the keeper.

Half time: United totally on top from the magic of Ronaldo. This game has 2-0 written all over it. Chelsea are winning as well, meaning the night is going very badly for Arsenal. Can’t ask for more than that.

20:47 Another great chance for United with Bolton trying to desperately bloke the shots. It ends with O’Shea shanking it from 10 yards out. Ronaldo holds his heads in his hands.

20:46 I think Bolton are heading for relegation. Davies does well to get into the box and then his shot is so tame that the defence had time to go for a coffee before clearing the ball. Bolton have no one who can score a goal.

20:44 Saha survives a tackle from behind for which O’Brien gets a booking. Honestly, how does he manage to injure himself so much off the pitch if he can take tackles like that ?

20:42 I seriously doubt the ability of our Polish goalkeeper. Once again he comes out for a ball he shouldn’t have come for and takes out the Bolton forward. Lucky for him that Taylor was offside.

20:40 Saha Injury Update: Louis’s hand doesn’t fracture when he hand balls it. He then works well to put in a good cross which Tevez heads tamely at the keeper.

20:39 I hate to say it because Giggs and Scholes are legends, but United play so much better and faster without them. Fletcher and Anderson seem to work well together and Nani has bags of energy and pace.

20:36 Great skill from Tevez in the area again. This time he remembers Rooney isn’t playing and has a shot himself. Straight at the keeper. Chance after chance after chance now.

20:34 A great passing move involving Tevez and O’Shea. O’Shea ? Ends with Saha not quite getting to the ball and it goes for a corner. United totally dominating now.

20:30 Nani uses fantastic skill to clear the danger from the edge of his own penalty area. Unlike Arsenal, Bolton don’t try to break his legs. Are Arsenal the new Bolton ?

20:27 Ronaldo jumps out the way of a rash challenge from McCann. Cue accusations of diving from McCann when really he was just trying to keep limps intact. Just watched a replay of the Ronaldo freekick. It swerves all over the place, but isn’t quite as good as the Portsmouth goal.

20:25 Saha Injury Update. He survives jumping and heading the ball intact, but it can only be a matter of time before he comes up lame.

20:22 2-1 to Chelsea through Essien. Sounds like a good game, but we shouldn’t worry about it as United are in total control tonight.

20:20 2-0!!! Ronaldo again! 33 goals!

Meite gives a way a freekick on Ronaldo in Ronaldo territory and is made to pay. A classic Ronaldo freekick.

20:18 Tevez dummies the ball to Rooney who is unfortunately is sitting on the bench. Bolton takes the ball down the right, crosses it to Davies who shoots well and the Polish keeper whose name I can’t spell saves well.

20:15 Spurs have equalised through Woodgate. 1-1 in that game. For United, Nani tries a 30 yard curler that goes not too far over the bar.

20:13 The advertising hordings read “Best since Best”. Is that a Courage ad, or a homage to our new Captain Fantastic ?

20:10 32 goals after 37 games and Ronaldo has equalled Best’s record. Tevez almost scores after being put in by Saha. From the resulting corner, Ronaldo heads the ball into the middle of the goal, Tevez tries an overhead kick and then Ronaldo slams home the loose ball into the top corner.

20:09 GOAL!! Ronaldo on 8mins! 1-0

20:07 News from the White Hart Lane. Chelsea go 1-0 up through Drogba.

20:05 Ref fell over. Straight after United but a great passing movement together ending with Nani crossing into the box with the wrong foot and it comes to nothing. Bolton are packing the midfield but if we pass like that we’ll be ok.

20:04 Saha injury update. Three minutes without injury

Kick-off: United kick off and have lots of early possession before playing a long ball and losing it. Seems a slightly subdued atmosphere at Old Trafford.

Team News: Kuszczak back in goal in place of Foster, Pique, Hargreaves, O’Shea, Vidic in defence, Fletcher, Nani, Anderson and Ronaldo (as the new Captain No7) in midfield, Saha (providing he lasts from now to Kick off) and Tevez up front. It is certainly a different line-up. Bit worried now. Fergie is gambling ahead of the Liverpool game.

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